November 2008 Archives

Montini junior center Michala Johnson was cleared to play on Tuesday. Johnson had injured her left knee over the summer, but had not torn any ligaments. Her first game back was Wednesday against Von Steuben at the Whitney Young tournament.
Johnson played about five minutes and had five blocks, two points and four rebounds. But late in the game she went up to grab a long pass, did a jump stop and landed funny on her left knee. Coach Jason Nichols said she felt a "tweak." He thinks she will be OK.
Montini won 44-41.

GIRLS BASKETBALL SUPER 25
(last week‚s ranking)

1. Young 1-0 (1)
Ashlee Anderson, Porsha Harris show their leadership in opening win over Evanston. Sophomore Chanise Jenkins has sweet outside shot.

2. Fenwick 2-0 (3)
Tricia Liston, Katlyn Payne already a formidable combo with 20 points each against Resurrection on Saturday.

3. Bolingbrook 1-1 (2)
Split the week with win over Morgan Park and loss to Indianapolis Ben Davis.

4. Montini 1-0 (4)
Slammed Marist by 26; next up is Whitney Young Thanksgiving tournament vs. Von Steuben on Wednesday.

5. T.F. North 3-0 (5)
Bayeena Abdul and Centrese McGee shone over the weekend at Romeoville.

6. Wheeling 3-0 (6)
Ashley Wilson and Co. headed for the Fenwick freight train on Saturday in the Niles North tournament.

7. New Trier 3-0 (NR)
Knocked off three top 12 teams last week in Marian Catholic, Marshall and Bogan; freshman Maggie Lyons is the real deal.

8. Lake Zurich 3-0 (9)
Lydia Bauer‚s hot free-throw streak against Jacobs: 10-for-10 and 27 points.

9. Geneva 1-0 (10)
Smashed Lakes to start its own tournament, season.

10. Marshall 1-1 (7)
Adrienne GodBold nets a double-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds against Warren in New Trier tournament, but dropped the tournament opener to a surprising Trevian team.

11. Von Steuben 0-0 (11)
First game is Monday vs. Crane.

12. Marian Catholic 0-1 (8)
Shocking opening loss at New Trier, despite good showing from Kaila Turner.

13. Hinsdale Central 2-0 (13)
Should do well in Hinsdale South tournament.

14. St. Charles North 1-0 (14)
Kiley Hackbarth carried the load at Quincy.

15. Trinity 3-0 (15)
Doing well with senior leadership from Monica Albano.

16. Hillcrest 2-0 (16)
Where did Jamie Nelson come from? She led the Hawks with 13 points against Homewood-Flossmoor in the team‚s opening night win.

17. Bogan 1-1 (12)
Jalisa Olive was a bright spot when she scored 24 in 64-46 loss against then-unranked New Trier.

18. Loyola 2-0 (17)
Meghan Holy pacing the Ramblers in New Trier tournament; faces the hot Trevians Tuesday.

19. Lincoln-Way East 3-0 (18)
Kersten Magrum is a big force for Griffins as they win Richards tourney.

20. Mother McAuley 2-0 (19)
Jen Moriarty dumps in 10 points, six rebounds, two assists in 61-18 win over Mount Assisi.

21. Cary-Grove 3-0 (20)
Watch for Claire Jakubicek this season; she poured in 21 points vs. Streamwood, 13 in the first quarter.

22. Waubonsie Valley 3-0 (22)
Freshmen Tami Morice (15 points) and Keiera Ray (13 points) came through in 58-43 win over Conant in Waubonsie/West Aurora tournament.

23. Batavia 3-0 (23)
Wrapped up the IMSA tournament title on Saturday.

24. Lemont 4-0 (24)
Off to a quick start at Romeoville tournament thanks to Alex Prasauskas.

25. Driscoll 1-0 (25)
Small school has big hopes.

Much has been said about Bolingbrook freshman phenom Morgan Tuck. It seems like she has been hyped even before she played her first game for the Raiders. But coach Tony Smith wants to set the record straight about one thing in particular: she is suffering a setback, but she's not done for the season.
Tuck was injured during the Raiders' loss Saturday to Indianapolis Ben Davis. Smith thinks maybe someone ran into Tuck from the side and injured the forward's right knee. But Tuck stayed in the game and finished with 18 points and five rebounds. She is on crutches and had an MRI, but Smith and the rest of the Raiders don't know yet what the extent of the injury is.

It seemed as if New Trier coach Teri Rodgers had never left.
Rodgers took last season off and returned with a bang Monday night in the Trevians' season opener in Winnetka. New Trier upset No. 8 Marian Catholic 46-41 and led by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter. Marian never had the lead.
For Rodgers, returning to coaching was like riding a bike. She didn't have any problems adjusting and fell right back into a routine.
"It feels great; you miss it but you get the year off and get perspective and get reenergized," Rodgers said. "Having a good person who took over for me [in Carrie Sowa] really helped the transition back. It was a great game and I thought they played excellent.
"It's like getting back on a bike and I stayed involved in it last year."
During her year off, Rodgers went to New Zealand for about a month and did a lot of bike riding, and also spent a lot of time with her family in Indianapolis. Helping to put things in perspective, Rodgers worked in an Indianapolis soup kitchen for most of her year off, which she found very rewarding.
But she also didn't stray far from coaching. Rodgers attended practices at DePaul, Berkley and Butler to better herself when she returned.
"I wanted to improve my ability to be an offensive coach," Rodgers said. "One of our strengths is our coaching of defense and [offense] is what I concentrated on last year."

Did you know that U-High's Illinois State recruit Alexis Jenkins and Young sophomore guard Chanise Jenkins are first cousins?

The 2008-09 girls basketball season officially starts on Monday -- and already four girls in the Public League have been ruled ineligible.
Welcome to the season, everybody.
On Friday, before the first game is even played, Calvin Davis, director of sports administration for the Public League, ruled that Carmen Sillers, (Washington to Julian), Raquel Townsend (Washington to Julian), Iesha Collins (Washington to Bogan) and LaParis Newsom (Washington to Bogan) will be inelgible for the entire season.
Now, these four girls and their coaches/parents/athletic directors can appeal the ruling.
In the case of the two girls at Bogan, that is exactly what will happen.
The four were ruled ineligible because, according to Davis, they left Washington for another school for athletic reasons. You can't do that.
Bogan coach Gary Bell said late Friday night that he is aware of the ineligible players, but that Collins would have been on the sophomore team and Newsom would have seen some playing time on varsity. Bell said there would appeal the rulings early next week.
Over at Washington, where these four girls came from, there are only nine girls left in the program and there is no frosh/soph team, said assistant coach Bryan Jones. Justin Frierson is the new coach, replacing Gerald Ewing whom Jones said left Washington for "family reasons."